Bodies of Turkish soldiers recovered from cargo plane crash to return

The bodies of the 20 Turkish soldiers who perished in a C-130 military cargo plane crash have been recovered and are scheduled for repatriation to Türkiye on Thursday, according to the National Defense Ministry. The aircraft crashed on Tuesday during its return flight from Azerbaijan, near the border with Georgia.

Investigation Moves to Ankara

The ministry provided an update during a weekly press briefing, confirming that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, commonly known as black boxes, have been retrieved from the crash site. These critical devices have been transported to the capital, Ankara, where a detailed technical analysis is now underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Legal Action and Fleet Grounding

In its statement, the ministry also addressed the unauthorized sharing of information, noting that social media accounts which disclosed the identities of the deceased soldiers before official notifications have been identified. Legal proceedings have been initiated against these accounts. Furthermore, as a precautionary measure, the operation of all C-130 aircraft in the inventory has been temporarily suspended until comprehensive technical inspections are concluded.